“Influence Behavior” – Goldman Uses Free Food To Lure Bankers Back To Office

Corporate executives are searching for creative ways to lure workers back to the office this fall. They recognize many white-collar workers resist returning to the office and instead work at home or in a hybrid environment. From Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to Havas SA, smart managers might have found the golden ticket to persuade workers to return to the office: woo them with food. 

Bloomberg reports Goldman Sachs is offering complimentary breakfast, lunch, and ice cream as part of a new amenity for employees in New York, London, and Hong Kong.

Goldman isn’t the only one. Several top Wall Street banks are offering company-subsidized food programs for employees who return to the office. 

Robin Mills, U.K., and Ireland managing director at catering company Compass Group Plc, said, “food is playing a much more central part in office life and businesses are using their food offers to try and influence behavior.”

 “We are now fully part of these reopening conversations and part of this new world as companies think about how to get people to come back,” Mills said. 

Companies offering free or subsidized meals are not new. Silicon Valley tech companies have been doing this for over a decade. Havas, a French multinational advertising and public relations company, a Compass client, uses food in the office as a perk to bring employees back in. They’re offering “Wellness Wednesdays” and global cuisines inspired by cultural events. 

“We’ve prioritized the kind of amenities that make being in an office attractive – and food is a really important part of that,” Xavier Rees, chief executive officer of Havas London, said. “This isn’t new – it was a huge selling point before the pandemic — but this kind of thing has become even more important as we begin to encourage people back into the office.”

Asset management firm Janus Henderson Group Plc has made its three-course meals at its London facility free for employees post-pandemic. 

Workspace Group Plc, which provides flexible office space across London, said their in-house cafes are becoming increasingly important. 

Compass said food is being used as a tool by corporate managers to increase office attendance. 

Even with the emergence of the delta variant and companies like BlackRock delaying the return of office, there’s an increasing chance that more and more corporate managers will use food as a winning perk to bring employees back in.